23 months

You've come a long way from the 8 lbs 13 oz newborn you were. (Lordy that's big!)

At one, you were a hoot! What a smile you have!

Nearing 2, you are a true toddler... and wow, I've gotta be on my toes!

Buddy boo, we are excited that in one month, we will celebrate a special day with you!

It's so hard to believe that my little guy is going to be 23 months old tomorrow! In one short month he will be 2!

Blake, you are too cute for words. People who don't even know you are drawn to your precious smile, your contagious laugh and your killer dimples! You are T R O U B L E like no one I know! If I am not watching you constantly, you are up to no good. You know how to throw a very good fit and can fall on the ground in protest. You are talking more and more and Daddy and I are so proud of how far you have come with your speaking lately. You still have tubes in your ears (your 2nd set) and that has made a world of difference. You haven't had ear troubles except for a tough case of swimmer's ear this summer. Overall, you are a happy, silly, laughing little boy.

You love to copy your big brother and play with anything he is playing with. Often, I will find the back door unlocked and you have slipped out to wander around the backyard and play. (It's not as dangerous as it sounds!) You love the sandbox, pushing cars around, riding your automatic golf cart and being passenger in the Escalade.
Inside, you love to play with trains, trucks and things you can push or pull around.

You love to watch mommy cook and make our meals. You will come up and say, "See" and want to be lifted onto the counter to watch, help stir and throw in your, "Mmmm's." You are a sweet help in the kitchen!

You are a wild banchee in the tub still- it's like a tornado hit the water. When we take you out, you say, "Bye bye wah-ter." You love to point at your nose, eyes, ears, hair, etc and tell me, "Ma Ma, eyes." It's sweet.

God bless your little bow legged legs, you try to run so fast but don't get to far too fast. Apparently bow leggedness means you will be really fast later.

You are a red head for sure. Oh, it is so cute! You generate a lot of attention because of that! You are never without your pacifier (poppy) and your TWO lovies (nineties). I can barely make you part with them to wash them. Hmmm... we need to work on that!

Blakey, Blakester, Blaker-boo, Blookie-blue, Blue, Blue-bug, Bugga-boo...WE LOVE YOU!

15 months

Blake,
You are officially 15 months old. At your appt today, you weighed 22 lbs 5 oz. That's about the 20th percentile. You are 30 1/2 inches long and that is 25th percentile. Your head continues to be on the large side little guy at that 80th percentile. My cute little melon head!

You are walking more and more and have this Frankenstein-ish toddle with your hands out stretched. You fall down lots and either decide to crawl because it's easier or get up and walk because you have a crowd cheering you on.

Appetite wise, you are eating all and everything. You have grown so much since you turned one and rarely snub anything we give to you.

You communicate via pointing mostly and jibber jabber. Sometimes you say da da for daddy but never ma ma. We will have to talk about that. You still LOVE your pacifier which we call your pop pop and you also love your night-night blankie. It's with you most of the time.

You love to play with Hunter. You all have the best time and he's a great sport to play with you as much as he does. You all love to pull out toys together and make a grand 'ol mess, but it's ok because I love to watch you all laugh and pretend together.

Bathtime is still one of your all-time faves. You splash like no one I have ever known. The entire bathroom floor is wet and whoever is the "spotter" sitting on the outside is covered from head to toe. You just love, love, love to splash.

We started Little Gym a couple of weeks ago. You love going and are often the "example" because you are not afraid to try anything. You love going upside down and doing forward rolls. You don't love hanging on the bars much though. The balls and bubbles at the end get you to giggle, so I love that.

A funny thing you are doing these days to express your frustration is that you sit on the ground, lean over and tap your head on the floor. It's like your way of saying, "See what you made me do. I am so mad!" It's hilarious to watch and we all kind of laugh when you do this. It can happen when I take you out of your highchair for throwing food on the floor (ahem), pull you away from something that is not a toy, tell you "no" about something.... Basically, whenever you are inconvenienced in the slightest.

You have 6 teeth, wear size 3 diapers, nap usually 2 times a day, sleep 7 at night to 7 in the morning and have the most fun personality. I think you are a class clown type- you love to get a reaction.

Blake, you are so precious to me and your daddy. Hunter is crazy about you and we all love you so much~ Now, stop growing up so fast!

Nueve Meses

Guess who's 9 months old??? You guessed it!



I cannot believe Blake is 9 months old already. We had his well visit on Monday and he is healthy as can be. He weighs in at 17 lbs 3 oz and is 28 inches long. It's funny to me that he started out so much bigger than Hunter at birth, and now he is 3 and a half pounds lighter than Hunter was at this age. For as much as Blake eats, we can chalk his weight (or lack thereof) to a fantastic metabolism. Lucky boy!

At 9 months...
**Blake loves to say Da Da or something close to it. Sometimes it's A-Da or Da-A.
**He's incredible at making noise with his mouth. This boy can motorboat!
**Blake is either the quietest in the room or the loudest. When he makes himself known, you can't miss it!
**He still nurses 4 times a day, sometimes 5 and has 3 hearty meals a day that consist of ANY baby food- he loves them all, and whatever we are eating. He has had spaghetti, pancakes, chicken, brocolli, mashed potatoes...
**He usually eats with his left hand and grabs handfuls at a time.
**Blake wears a 2-3 diaper and wears 9 month to 12 month clothes.
**He does not crawl at this point, but can scoot on his tummy...backwards.
**Blake's favorite activity is to play on the floor with toys. He's not too interested in the exersaucer or the jumper.
**Blakey loves the water. He loves a bath and usually cries when I have to take him out and he squeals with excitement when we are in the pool.
**Blake goes down at 7 and is up about 6:30ish. Not bad!
**He takes 2 naps a day, sometimes a little catnap later in the afternoon if he wakes up early from his afternoon nap.
**Squeezes his fists either in frustration or excitement. Depends on the moment.

Now... on to Hunter.
His latest antics, let's see. He asked me the other day, "Mom, are you nice?"

He is into Play-Doh big time these days. He can pull out this glob of play-doh that is now gray because it is all colors combined and make little hills for his cars to drive on and his little men to play in.

Our tradition this summer is for him to come out with me in the evenings when I water the front yard. San Antonio is on severe water restrictions, so the only way to water your yard is to hand water with a hose except for your assigned day. Well, with 50+ days over 100 degrees, you have to water more than once a week. Anywho, Hunter comes out with me and loves to get sprayed while he's running around the yard. It's just so "summertime" to me.

His favorite thing to watch on TV these days...
Wipeout! Have you seen it? It's hilarious and basically 3 year old humor. Laughing at people as they wipeout. What could be funnier?

Hunter will be starting school in September. He's still going Tuesdays and Thursdays in the morning.

Back with pictures soon!!

Blakey loves his Babs!!

Where does the time go???

(Updated with more pictures)



Blake is 5 months old tomorrow! It is so hard to believe that it was almost
5 months ago that he made his grand entrance into the world. In some ways, it seems like yesterday and in other ways, it seems like a long time ago. I was looking at a picture of him the other day and was thinking what I had imagined that he would look like. I realized that he looks exactly how I would have pictured him to- either that or he is so perfectly "Blake" to me that I cannot even imagine him being any other way. I love having him as a part of our family.

I have always been a journal person. It's almost excruciating to go back and read things I wrote about in high school or college, but it's a treasure to have the journals I have kept for my kids. I didn't really journal once I got married for one reason or another, but picked it up immediately when I found out I was expecting Hunter. So, the spring of 2005 at the age of 25, there I was journaling 2-3 times a week about everything that was going on. I LOVE to look back and read about my pregnancy, the things I was thinking about, how we prepared, etc. Then, once Hunter arrived, I was even more diligent about writing down things he did, what his schedule was at certain times, fun things we were doing, his milestones, etc. Of course, with Blake I continued and bought a new journal to write down my experience of being pregnant with him. I don't have the best memory, so I enjoyed looking back at Hunter's and comparing. The real irony of this is that my boys probably will not care less about all the time I expended making sure all of their memories were written down. Oh well! I laugh and tell Chris that he can read my journals to me when we are old and gray and I will certainly love it. I already do enjoy looking back and saying, "Back in April of 2006, when Hunter was 4 months, he was doing this and that, and then in April 2007, he was doing this...."

Anyway, the 2 journal thing is really tough. I can't seem to keep up with it as I would like to. Therefore, the blog takes on a whole new meaning to me in preserving our memories. I love that I can post stories and pictures so easily and look back whenever I want to.

So, on that note...

Blake, you are so precious at 5 months. You get more and more fun by the day. Here are some of the things you are up to...

* You grin at just about anyone and anything. I've never met a baby that just flashes those gummy grins so much. It melts my heart.

* When you do cry, you sound like a baby lion. You kind of roar with your cry. It's very manly! Sometimes when I hear you get going on the baby monitor, I kind of laugh because it's very entertaining.

* You also will "roar" at me when I play, "I'm gonna get you." It's fun to really interact with you.

* You love your pacifier and it often soothes you. However, if you are hungry, you see it as the biggest insult for me to put that thing in your mouth and will spit it about 2 feet. Again, too funny to watch you have a little tantrum.

* You LOVE to watch Hunter do just about anything. He is your ultimate entertainment and I bet will continue to be for a long time. You just focus on him and watch with great concentration.

* Hunter LOVES you more than I could have ever imagined. He loves to talk to you and soothe you. He tells me that he will "Take care of Baby Bwake" when we are in the car and you get upset. It's precious and you usually calm down when Big Brother is in charge.

* You are down by 8:00 each night, up around 1 or 2 to eat and then up between 6 and 7. It's not too bad, but we are working on stretching that out again. I do only feed you for 5 minutes, so we are getting there.

* You've been doing rice cereal for about 2 weeks now and you are doing great. You are starting to open your mouth in anticipation for the spoon and remind me of a little baby bird. You do manage to get some down it seems like to me. For some reason, this time around, your daddy and I are itching to give you real food. I keep reminding myself that there is plently of time to let you taste the good stuff!

* You reach for toys and bring EVERYTHING to your mouth. Anything within your reach is yours these days.

* You have this silly game you play where you pull your pacifier out of your mouth and then stare at it in your hand. Then you try and try to get it back into your mouth- sometimes you are successful and sometimes not. As soon as it gets back in your mouth you do it all over again.

* You are on the go a lot and do really well. Much like your brother, we keep on going and you just come with us. He was always a great sport and so far, you are too. You will take a formula bottle if we are out and about and really are okay with that. Thank you for that! I owe ya!

* You laugh and chuckle at me and I cannot tell you what a spirit lifter that is. I love to hear you laugh!

* You have the cutest toes and laugh the whole way through "This little Piggy." Everytime!

* You are great on your tummy and push up like a pro. The sitting thing is getting there too. You are stronger and stronger all of the time.

* Something that is totally "Blake" is that you play with your tongue all the time. You cannot smile without sticking out your tongue. A lot of times, we laugh because your mouth is wide open and your tongue is sticking out about as far as it can go. It's the silliest and sweetest little thing that you do.


Daddy is imitating your look.

* Your favorite book right now is "Millie Moo" with all of the bright colors and crazy illustrations. You love it when I read it with exaggerated expression and coo and reach for the pictures.

* The Exersaucer is a fun activity these days too. You are intent on getting every last one of those toys in your mouth.

* The jumper... oh how we love to watch you starting to get your bearing in that. I know before too long you will be going to town jumping.


I love you little one! Thanks for being such a precious and sweet baby.

First Taste of Rice Cereal

(I ADDED some pics below of Hunter eating his first rice cereal. I can't resist how fun it is to look back and see how similar or different their milestones are.)
At Blake's 4 month check up a couple of weeks ago, the whole rice cereal introduction was discussed. Our pediatrician said that it was more than fine to start Blake on rice cereal if we so chose. I originally thought not. With Hunter, I had waited until he was 6 months old to start. I guess in my mind, I was planning on following suit with Blake.

However... the past 5 nights have been rough. Friday night I barely slept at all while we were in Waco. Blake just wasn't going to sleep for more than an hour straight at a time. There's something about not wanting to bother everyone that makes you cave into feeding at every peep. Thinking it was a fluke deal, we figured that back home in his bed he would do better. So far, that has not happened. Last night and the night before, I wrote down the times I went to his room. Mostly to put the pacifier in, a time or two to feed him. Last night, it was 8 times!! 8!!! I even let him cry it out one of those rounds too. The boy has some willpower!!

Needless to say, I am rather zombie-like today. I'm tired and worn out- not thinking clearly at all. But, here are some of the pics of our first go-round with rice cereal. He seemed to like it a lot.






HUNTER at 6 months and his first taste of cereal. So fun!!

Are we sure about this???

Leavin' on a jet plane...

I'm so excited!

I am leaving tomorrow with Blake to go visit Dana. We are flying up to DFW where my gracious sister-in-law, Summer, will pick us up for Blake's first visit with Mimi. I can't wait.

Pictures to come!

Totally 1985!

I decided it would be fun to dress Blake in a true sweatshirt that his Uncle Blake wore back in 1985 when he was born. It's not that easy to prop him up and keep him in the "sitting" position without that big ol belly flopping out. He sported that little sweatshirt Homer Simpson style most of the day! It's pretty special to have gotten to wear it though. Thanks for bringing it over Mom!

2 months...

Blake and his buddy Luke out for coffee with their mommies! Doesn't Blake look so grown up in his hood? So fun! Thanks Mrs. Owens for the precious outfit!

Can't see me... I'm in camo. Attempt at a smile pic. Chubby bubby!

Blake concentrating on his activity mat. This is a new interest these days.

Precious smile!


Blake hit the 2 month mark on the 17th. He weighs in at a whooping 13 lbs 3 oz!! He's a big 'un! I could just eat him up. Don't you love the smile... and the dimples??

My cute kids and.... Blake and Luke meet

These pictures just verify what I already know... Blake and Hunter are the cutest kids I know! Too bad there are about 100 more pictures I just couldn't possibly share on the blog. These are some of my favorites from the last couple of days!








Yesterday, Blake and his bestest friend got together for the first time. Blake was 18days old and Luke was 9 days old when they first met. Cari and I could not resist taking a million pictures of them "sleeping" through their first playdate.
(Oh yes, they are in the same outfit!) Also, Luke is on the left, Blake is on the right!

Life around here and an update on Dana

Well, we are 2 weeks into having 2 kids. So far, so good!

Blake had his two week appointment yesterday morning. Everything is going great- he is healthy and happy. He was almost back to his birth weight yesterday, weighing in at 8 lbs 11 oz. I asked if I needed to wake him at night to feed, and was told that if he slept, let him! Ok, you don't need to tell me twice!

Blake typically wakes up in the morning around 7:30-8 with me lifting him out of his Moses basket. He eats every 2 1/2 to 3 hours, often having to be woken up from a deep sleep. He is happy sleeping in the bouncy seat, the swing or his bed. He loves to be swaddled, just like Hunter did. At night, he cluster feeds every 2 hours from 6:00 on. Our last feeding is around 10 and then it's lights out for the night. He has been waking up ONCE a night so far. Usually around 3:30-4, I hear him stirring, so I have been feeding him then. He then lasts until the 7:30 feeding. It's incredible... I am not going to lie!

I have not felt the utter exhaustion that comes with a newborn so far. Let's hope he has nothing tricky up his sleeves! We are just counting our blessings that he is the sleeper that he is!

Hunter has been precious so far with Blake. He insists on calling him Baby Blake and loves to tell me, "He's so tiny. Let me touch him." He is very gentle and just this morning I caught him on video consoling Blake when he was crying. Hunter was repeating in his very sweet voice, "It's okay. Don't cry Baby Blake." It was too cute.

We did make it to Waco over the holidays after all. Chris had planned all along to visit and take Hunter after Thanksgiving. Since I have felt so good and Blake has been such a great baby, we tagged along. I was anxious to see Dana since I had not gotten the chance before. I was never able to get to Waco since she was hospitalized since Blake was due anyday. We did get to go up to ICU to see her and she opened her eyes. I was able to talk to her and tell her about Blake and when I told her that I thought he looked so much like Chris, I could tell she wanted to say something so badly. I thought she looked really good considering all that she has been through. The day before she had been talking and the day after we visited she was able to talk. However, on Friday when I was up there, she was not able to respond. All she was able to do was open her eyes and look at us. There was no change of expression on her face as you talked to her, but Scott assured us that she understood everything we were saying and knew we were there. I am just so glad I finally got the chance to tell her how proud I was of her and encourage her to keep on fighting.

Many of you have asked for an UPDATE on Dana, so here's what I know....
She will be moved to Fort Worth to an intensive long-term rehab hospital tomorrow (WED.). The plan is that she will stay there until she is well enough to return home. Doctors are very vague about how much time this will take. Some have suggested that it could range from 6 weeks to 6 months. She overcame incredible odds by beating ARDS (Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome). Honestly, it is by the power of prayers that she came through that AND open heart surgery. Currently, she is still on the ventilator, but is doing well as they take her off periodically. She is healing from the open heart surgery well. She does not have any movement in her hands or legs right now due to nerve damage. That will be addressed at rehab and is common in patients that have gone through all that she has. She is still mildly sedated considering her pain and tracheostomy.

I still catch myself reaching for the phone to call her to tell her a funny story about Hunter or report Blake's latest. It's so unreal to think that a month has passed without being able to talk to her and share things with her. I cannot wait for the day to come when I can do that again. We are so humbled by the prayers that poured in on her behalf and know whole-heartedly that God showed us a true miracle by healing her. While she still has a long recovery ahead, we are so thankful that He saw it fit to keep one of His greatest servants with us!

2 and a half weeks and counting....

I had my appointment today with my OB and all is well. Baby Blake is staying steady with a heartrate of 144- that's been his tried and true heartrate for many of my appointments. He is head down which is always good. As for me, I was already 1-2 and 50%. Being that I technically have 4 weeks until the actual due date and only 2 1/2 until the induction, that's pretty good. I remember being about 3 weeks from my due date with Hunter and being 2 and 80%. I'm not counting on him coming any sooner than the planned day, but I probably shouldn't take any chances. I have been packing my bag this afternoon with things that I don't need on a daily basis. I should probably make sure that the camera and video camera are charged and ready.

On another note, when Hunter wakes up this afternoon, I have planned to do some fun things with him for Halloween. We are going to make iced pumpkin sugar cookies and then carve our pumpkin. I saw the cutest idea on another blog and had to share...
As you carve your pumpkin, this is something special you can do:

Dear God,
As I carve my pumpkin help me say this prayer....
Open my mind so I can learn about you. (Cut the top of the pumpkin)
Take away all my sins and forgive me for the wrong things I do. (Clean out the inside)
Open my eyes so Your love I will see. (Cut the eyes out in the shape of a cross)
Open my ears so Your Word I will hear. (Cut the ears shaped like the Bible-rectangles)
Open my mouth so I can tell others You are near. (Cut the mouth)
Let Your light shine in all I say and do! (Place a candle inside and light it)
AMEN!

So cute! We will have to take a picture of ours and post it later today. I do remember thinking that Hunter would be all about digging in and scooping out the insides of the pumpkin last year. Instead, he was disgusted and said, "Ew momma, no you do it." It doesn't phase me in the least!

Hope everyone has a fun Halloween! Many pics to come from that I am sure!

5 Weeks from Today!!

I cannot believe that 5 weeks from today we will get to meet little Blake! I am beside myself excited and am ridiculously ready for him to get here. Of course, I am not wishing him to come early, but instead for those 5 weeks to not be pure torture.

I have his bag packed for the hospital, the car seat ready and the base installed in the car, clothes are washed and hung up in the closet, diapers and more diapers ready and waiting, the room is spotless and set up for him at a moment's notice, the Moses basket is ready and waiting in our bedroom, the monitor is plugged in even though it is monitoring nothing right now, the baby creams and bath gear are ready and stocked...

The only thing I still need to do is pack my own bag, and I think if I did that right now, Chris would think I was crazy. He's already laughing at my "nesting" instinct that has set in so early. He thought it was a little early to install the carseat base, but my motto is to do it when you are thinking about it.

After running our video camera out to the hospital Saturday morning for some close friends to borrow for the birth of their little girl, I realized that I had not stocked up on blank tapes for the camera. Well, I can say that that is now taken care of! We have 2 packs of 2 ready for Baby Blake! I feel like I should keep my digital camera on the charger permanently so it is always ready since you never really know... but I think we will be fine!

Hunter seems to understand that there is a baby in my tummy and gave Blake some kisses today. He loves to push on my belly button that has proceded to stick out very obviously and turn me "off" and "on." It doesn't help that I totally play along and stop and freeze what I am doing to play like I am "off" and then resume my activity when he turns the button back "on." The things you do!

Anyway, I am going to be content to enjoy my last couple of weeks with just Hunter. He's at such a great stage- he's funny and silly and so great to have a conversation with. We are really relishing these days before life gets hectic and unpredictable again.

Baby Blake's Nursery

The room is ready and waiting for little Blake! I am so excited the PB rug came in this week and we were able to get it in the room. I think we are finished- I can't think of anything else we need to do.

Fortunately, we didn't have too much work to do in the nursery since we moved Hunter to his big boy room a couple of months ago. We did have to replace the blue and white rug with a new one (thanks Mom and Dad), and we rearranged some of the things on the wall. I had the cross collection over the crib for Hunter. For Blake, we moved them to the striped wall on either side of the window and got a precious piece to hang over the crib from Chris' parents. I also ordered a cute canvas with Blake's initials painted on it to hang over the glider. It turned out so cute!

The room is so cheery and cozy and I cannot wait to have a little one to hold and rock again in that chair. It won't be long now!